Big Sister
by Enna York
Summary: A single moment can change your fate forever, high school student Sen's life changed when she became a big sister by bravely saving the life of Seita, an orphaned ghoul, and taking him into her life as her little brother. The two embark on a journey of self discovery while trying to learn how to live in the worlds of ghouls and humans with only each other learning how to be family.
1. A Leap of Faith

Sen sighed as she stood at the oddly empty train station waiting eagerly for her train home, she rolled her eyes and glanced at her watch rolling back and forth from her toes to her heels impatient. She flinched staring at the time, the train she was waiting for wouldn't be arriving for another twenty minutes, not that it was late.

Sen blew her bangs out of her face, she was the one who had been late, she had been running late because of that job application she had been filling out. She played with her bag on her hip her impatience causing her to shift uncontrollably. But the more she thought about it, it wasn't just impatience it was also excitement, her stomach felt like it was filled with butterflies, _finally I get to do something I want in life without always having to please my parents_ she thought to herself _they'll approve a part time job that's for sure, but finally a part time job doing what I want to do with my life._

She started twirling her hair around in her fingers humming happily to herself when she heard someone beside her cough irritated. She ducked her head and flushed bright red in embarrassment, she hadn't even noticed someone had been there. Without moving her head because she was too embarrassed to be caught looking, her eyes swiveled to see an extremely tall man standing next to her with white hair and a long coat.

She stared up at him somewhat frightened, only for his eyes to swivel over and look down at her staring. Her eyes bulged in her sockets and she swallowed in fear, but suddenly from the other side of the platform there was someone screaming. Both of them jumped and turned at the sound startled, it wasn't someone screaming because they were joking about being in danger, or surprised it was someone in absolute agony.

There were enormous crashes, and bangs, frantic and indiscernible shouts. Sen stared on in fear her heart racing in her chest, she couldn't see what was happening and couldn't tell if the sounds were coming from around the corner or up above and filtering down the stairs from across the platform. _M-my phone, I should get my phone someone's in trouble_ she realised in her terror and with a shaking hand she began to reach over for her cell phone. Her hand froze just over her pocket her fingers twitching to get inside.

There was the sound of sneakers slapping against the stairs and children shrieking at the top of their lungs, two boys who had to be around the age of ten, came streaking down the stairs both dishevelled, clothes torn and ruffled, frantically staring in horror over their shoulders behind them.

Sen's fingers hesitated over her pocket watching fixatedly on the scene play out in utter terror, it seemed in slow motion that the children's faces swiveled back but they were oddly distorted. It wasn't simply because they were crying and shrieking in horror- no their eyes, Sen stared at their eyes in horror. "They're not human." She breathed out to herself the man with the white hair next to her staring at her from the corner of his eyes, eyeing her warily.

She stared at their eyes with red irises and the whites of their eyes pitch black, suddenly men in long trench coats with blood splattered on them and carrying heavy looking brief cases sprinted down after the boys who quickly doubled their pace.

They hit the end of the stairs, the smaller one kept running straight forwards for the tracks, while the larger one turned to face the men chasing him. He hissed and growled and suddenly tail like projections shot out from his small red and blue jacket waving madly in the air around him.

Sen's knees shook and buckled and she almost collapsed under her own weight, her hand that had been reaching for her phone instead covered her mouth to stifle her building scream. She stared on with trembling eyes _it…. It can't be… a… a ghoul?!_ She exclaimed mentally the man next to her watching on calmly.

The briefcases the men carried suddenly clicked open and became weapons and they rushed at the boy with the tail like projections. Sen stared on watching the fight that ensued suddenly the smaller boy who had been watching in terror like seen whimpered and began to back away getting closer and closer to the tracks stepping onto the yellow warning line.

Sen couldn't stop herself and screamed out, "Watch out kid!" and he turned to stare at her stunned when one of the men with the briefcases, a CCG officer rushed at him knocking him back. He landed on the tracks and stared back up at the officer in horror, the officer stared down and readied himself to jump down when a train went blaring past suddenly. It suddenly clicked in Sen's mind that there had been a warning of an incoming train but it was ignored due to all the screaming.

Sen screamed at the top of her lungs in fright dropping her bag as the train clattered past, the fight on the other side continuing on, Sen could see it through the windows of the train. The ghoul's kagune madly flaring about attacking and defending while the CCG's quinque attacked. The other boy- the older one managed to create an opening in the fight knocking both men back, one slamming into the train and the other into a pillar. He turned and fled quickly disappearing from sight as the train disappeared rattling on down the track, the men picked themselves and their weapons up and then chased after him leaving Sen and the man next to her alone on the platform.

Suddenly something groaned and from the corner of Sen's eyes something was moving on the tracks, she turned to stare down to see the little boy that had fallen sitting up on the tracks somehow unharmed. "Hey are you alright?!" she yelled out at him and he turned to stare at her in a daze.

He struggled to get up to his feet but collapsed back down seemingly unable to stand back up, Sen's heart raced in her chest she found herself unconsciously shifting back and forward unsure of whether she should do anything.

She watched the boy stumble once more and collapse, "Oh fuck it." She growled to herself, the man next to her whipping around to stare at her confused at her outburst. Yanking on the tie around her neck to loosen it, she backed up and stared at the boy on the track, _here goes_ she thought to herself running forwards and jumping straight onto the tracks herself unsure of when the next train would be pulling in, she only ever bothered to check the schedule for the trains she needed to take.

The boy squeaked as she rushed at him and grabbed him scooping him up into her arms, at first he panicked and hit her screaming out but relaxed realising she wasn't one of the CCG officers. She skidded to a stop and turned back to the platform she had been standing on the tall man regarding her curiously.

"I got you kid it's going to be alright." She assured him rushing back to her platform, she made it back with a grin on her face, it had been easier than she had planned but then stopped short staring up over her head. She hadn't noticed when she jumped down how high she had been, she was filled with dread staring up unsure how she'd make it up on her own let alone with a kid in tow.

And to her fear the two minute warning of a train pulling in sounding, she dropped him and tried to jump up herself thinking she could pull him up after her, but it was to no avail. She turned and stared back at the kid, "C'mon kid." She said beckoning to him, she pulled him up and he scrambled up onto her shoulders tuning towards the platform.

His hands scrambled for the ledge to pull himself up but he couldn't reach, Sen stared up and tired her best to stand as tall as she could getting onto her tiptoes, her heart raced in her ears with her terror. Her impatience grew with him and she began to try and push him up as he tried to jump for the platform.

She could hear the rumble begin of the nearing train and knew they didn't have very long. She tried to heave him up and watched as he went into the air high enough to catch himself on the platform his small hands shot forwards but he slipped back down onto her shoulders.

She winced from the pain of his impact but refused to give up, "C'mon kid climb! Climb!" Sen exclaimed trying to push the small child she grabbed and throw him up to safety on the platform. The frantic child in her arms scrambled to try and gain hold on the flat surface to pull himself up, Sen could hear the train nearing. She squeezed her eyes shut in terror, and gave a cry and one last heave and the child she grabbed went flying up to safety.

She made an exclamation of relief and opened her eyes to see the platform up over her head, she jumped trying to grab for it. A hand clamped down on her wrist and she gasped looking up to the face of the man that had been standing next to her on the platform.

She jumped and her feet climbed the wall as the man pulled her up, she collapsed onto the platform gasping for air, rolling away just as the train rushed passed her. "Th-thank you." She breathed hoping the white haired man was still there.

He stared down at her stoically unsure of what to make of her. Sen rolled over onto her knees and glanced at the kid, she heard heavy footfalls on the platform across from them. She twisted to see the CCG officers, "There he is!" The one who shoved him shouted, "Little bugger's still alive!" he exclaimed, Sen glanced over at the boy. She sprang up snatching him around the waist.

"C'mon kid! You're coming with me!" She yelled as she took of sprinting still carrying him, he was surprisingly light.

"You there stop! Put that kid down!" The officer yelled behind her, Sen reflexively winced it wasn't her style to disobey authority but she had no choice in this matter, it was just a kid after all he didn't deserve to die. Yomo watched the school girl dash off, for the second time that day saving the small ghoul who had no relation to her.

He glanced down, and realised she had left her school bag on the platform, he glanced up at the CCG officers who were already dashing further down the platform to transfer over to where he was. He shuffled over and hid her bag under his heavy coat.

Sen panted exhausted and glanced around her surroundings with a frown _geez… What an obvious hiding spot. It's so cliché, I'm so lame in a bind_ she thought to herself as she glanced around the girls' bathroom she sprinted headlong into. She then glanced up at the kid she'd thrown on the counter in front of her and offered a sheepish smile.

"So there…" she started unsure of where to go with this conversation trialing off with an awkward laugh, she attempted a smile but knew it came out as more of a grimace.

The child couldn't contain himself and blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "Why'd you do it? Why'd you save me?" he asked her, she opened her mouth to respond when the door burst open.

Yomo glanced up, the CCG officers had finally gotten to where he was standing, "Hey you! Where'd that girl go? The one with that ghoul?" the more hot headed one of the duo demanded.

Yomo turned facing them stoically, "They went that way." He said pointing in the direction that they'd see her take off in, "She took the first left." He added on without his face moving an inch, expertly hiding his lie. They believed him and even thanked him taking off and not suspecting that he had just misled them.

Sen felt like crying when the door burst open so suddenly, but it was just a woman in urgent need of the bathroom, the distraction however drew her attention to something. "Eh? My bag! I forgot my bag!" she exclaimed staring down to see her school bag that was always at her hip gone and realising she dropped it earlier in her terror.

The child frowned at her, "Really that's all you can think of?" he demanded of her frustrated, _stupid human, really your bag is all you can think of right now_ he growled to himself disgusted with her.

"No, you don't understand. If they get my bag they know who I am, oh my god I've got to go back." Sen replied frantically, "Come on we've got to go." She said pulling him off the counter.

He struggled against her, "What are you doing?! Put me down! I'm not going anywhere with you!" he exclaimed.

Sen looked him in the eye, "Look, right now all you've got is me. You can stay here, the girls' bathroom by the way. Or you can come with me, I'll keep you safe I swear, I'll look after you until you can find your family again." She assured him.

"Fine then, only long enough to find my family though." He responded stubbornly. Slipping off the counter, they took off sprinting through the now crowded platform back the way that they had come. When they got back to their platform they had started at it was still empty except for the white haired man.

Yomo turned, somehow he expected the two to return and patiently waited. Both panting and exhausted, he watched the doubled over high schooler glanced around, she paused and glanced up at him, "Hey mister have you seen my bag?" she panted as she asked him one brow arching.

He opened his jacket revealing the bag, her face instantly lit up, "Thank you!" she breathed in relief approaching him with a smile. He passed the bag over, she glanced over her shoulder at the young boy, "Hey you coming?" she asked him nodding her head in the direction of stairs leading up to the street.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Yomo asked the high schooler still unsure of who she was and what her intentions were. He could smell it all over her, she reeked of human, she wasn't some ghoul that was helping another one out-she was fully human, and had to have known that the boy she just saved is a ghoul.

She turned, her bangs stuck to her forehead from sweating and still panting from her run, "Well, someone's got to look after him. I've got a place." She answered shrugging, she couldn't put it into words why she did it. In Sen's mind she just had to do the right thing and save a life, and even then to her that explanation didn't seem to be the right one to her to describe why she did what she just did or what she was doing right now.

"But he's a ghoul." The man with the white hair replied to her, the answer she was expecting from him.

"Really? All I see is a kid that needs a place to stay." She answered smiling care freely and shrugging again and swinging her bag around, "Hey kid you coming?" she asked him and the small child nodded his head giving one scared look to Yomo as he scrabbled past him. Yomo unsure of what to do or say watched the odd duo run off out of the subway.

"Hey old hag, I don't get it. If you have to take the subway home what good's walking going to do?" Seita asked the high schooler that he had decided to follow after she saved him, though he wasn't quite sure why she'd done it. He usually wasn't so rude to people, in fact he was rather timid, but his emotions were all over right now because of the CCG and he still didn't trust this high schooler that had just up and saved him. He took hesitant sniffs of the air and sure enough once again all he could smell was human meat coming off of her.

"I'm splurging today, let's take a taxi yeah?" she answered him with a grin holding her school bag happily, "The name's Sen by the way." She added extending her hand out to him as if to shake. Seita stared at her hand but made no move to take it, he expected her smile to falter but it didn't and she instead continued to stare at him.

Seita grunted in response coming to a stop next to her at the curb as she hailed the cab, she opened the door and allowed him in first climbing in after him. She gave the cab driver her address and they departed quickly afterwards. She paid the driver and they slipped out, Seita glanced up at the small apartment complex.

Sen stood staring at it happily her hands on her hips, "Yep, Landlady's pretty strict with the rules, but it's decent enough for a high schooler." She remarked happily, "Here it's up this way." Sen chirped taking off up the stairs the boy following after her. She glanced over her shoulder at him, he seemed like a quiet and timid boy that was putting up a defensive front.

She produced the keys and let herself in, "I'm home~" she chirped happily as her head poked into the familiar apartment.

"Wait you live with people?" Seita asked, unsure of how she'd explain his presence to others. He watched as she happily stepped into her apartment putting her bag down and slipping off her shoes. She stepped further in and turned to face him waving for him to come in welcomingly.

"No, but it makes the place seem more welcome don't you think?" Sen remarked cheerfully she sighed and glanced around it sure wasn't much but it was home. She turned back to her new house guest, "I've only got one bed for now, so you can take it, I'll order a new one after work tomorrow." She stated as she stepped in glancing around at her small apartment. Everything was neat and orderly, put away and organized to her liking. Admittedly she didn't pay for it by herself, her parents still sent her an allowance every month to help pay the bills- but the again it was because of them she got the apartment.

Their work kept them too busy to ever be at home with her, and they moved around frequently. Both her parents and herself got fed up with having to switch schools every couple of months it was too much of a strain on both sides, so they agreed to let her get an apartment on her own so she could stay in one place.

Since Seita had been quiet she decided to continue on, "The sheets are clean, I just had them done this morning almost as if I knew you'd show up." She laughed smiling happily trying her best to be comforting unsure exactly of what to do in this situation. She wished she knew more about what was going on but she didn't want to ask him in case it hurt him.

Seita frowned, "Stop smiling and laughing over everything, what are you stupid?" he snapped at her grumpily still trying to use anger to distract himself from the pain, "And don't bother with a second bed, it's not like I'm staying around all that long." He added on shoving his hands into his pockets.

Sen shrugged, "I needed to get a second one in case of a guest anyways. You can watch videos on my computer if you'd like." She offered walking her bag over to her closet and opening it up, she began to take everything out and put it away. She turned to stare at Seita who trotted over to the corner of her room, he collapsed onto him bum and pulled his knees under his chin eyeing everything distrustfully.

"So you want to order anything in for dinner? Treat on me?" Sen offered him, he glared at her. She attempted a soft smile while meeting his eyes, "A nice warm dinner in your belly?" she asked him.

He pouted and crossed his arms, "I'm not hungry just leave me alone." He muttered at her.

She laughed and smiled to cover her irritation, "Alright then, I'm just going to do my homework if that's alright with you. Like I said you can use the lap top to entertain yourself and if you need anything just ask me." She stated turning back and grabbing her collapsible desk.

She set up on the opposite side of the room from Seita to watch him as she worked but he simply sulked in the corner. She watched as he slowly began to lose his grumpy façade. Which made her smile glad that he was calming down.

She finished her work and packed everything up, her stomach rumbled, she turned to look over at Seita, "Last chance you sure you don't want to order anything in?" she asked him and he shook his head, she shrugged grabbing her apron and tying it over top of her clothes, "No biggie, I'm telling you I'm an excellent cook. I work at this restaurant… not as a line cook or anything, I'm a dishwasher but I pick things up all the time."

She trotted over to the fridge opening it up and staring at what she had, thinking to herself she'd have to make something special, it hit her suddenly what to make and a smile broke out on her face. She began to pull ingredients for dinner and began to cook away, Seita watched oddly fascinated.

He'd never actually seen someone cook before because he never ate cooked food, he had seen kitchens and people using them on television but he'd never actually seen someone use a kitchen. Soon enough he found himself seated at the dinner table with a plate of food placed before him, he didn't know much about food but he knew enough that this dish would be considered delicious and well made.

But in all honesty it reeked, the scent offended his nostrils. He wanted to gag and turn away but he didn't have the energy and instead stared down at the plate instead. Sen who didn't understand the inner workings of ghouls stared at Seita slightly irritated that he hadn't made a move to eat the omurice she had prepared specially for him. She chose it because she figured even if he was a picky eater he'd still try it. But he just started at it.

She couldn't contain her frustration, "Hey." She said trying to get his attention, she leaned across her small table and lightly smacked him upside the head, "If someone goes to the trouble of making you a meal you should at least taste it before you decide you don't like it. Whether you like it or not you're my guest until we can find your family." She said.

She sat back down and pointed her fork at him purposely being rude, "Now eat." She ordered him sternly remembering her mother doing the same thing to her.

Seita stared down at the dish embarrassed at the scolding, the unexpected outburst from Sen had finally made him realise that today had actually happened. The CCG had come after his family, he had gotten separated from them and Sen had saved him. He stared up at her flushing bright red in embarrassment, he realised just how rude he had been to her when he should have been grateful to her.

She looked back at him looking shocked, he sniffled and red hot tears rolled down his cheeks. He snatched his own fork and while sobbing began to shovel food into his mouth not caring if it made him sick or not, "I'm so very sorry for being so rude." He apologised as he shoveled mouthful after mouthful. He tried his best to swallow the second the food touched his tongue but he could still taste it, everything tasted horrible. He had no idea what to compare it to but it was the most vile and disgusting thing he'd ever tasted but he forced himself to eat it.

Sen watched the sobbing boy eat and reached out towards him with a trembling hand, "It-it's alright you know… you don't have to get so worked up over it… I was only kidding." She insisted trying to calm him down feeling absolutely horrible for making him cry.

He cleared his entire plate before Sen could even put a dent into her own dish, she stared up at him still crying, "Would you like to lie down?" she asked him and he nodded tears still streaming down his face. She grabbed their plates, too emotionally worn out to eat anything herself and put them next to the sink. She got up pulling out her bed for Seita and arranging it for him as he stared down at her numbly.

He climbed in and lay down his back to her for a long second before rolling over to face her, his tears had stopped falling but he still looked hurt and lost, "Thank you." He whispered to her utterly overwhelmed with gratitude-never had a stranger ever done this much for him. And the more Seita thought about-besides his mother no one had ever done this much for him.

Sen looked down at him and smiled feeling tears well up in her eyes as well, "You don't have to be." She responded to him sniffling slightly and trying to hold back the tears. Embarrassed she turned around putting her back to him and clutching her counter sniffling and swiping at her eyes.

Seita watched Sen cry, crying along silently with her. Sen managed to compose herself and turned around to face him and walked over to him lying down on the floor next to him her long black locks cascading onto the floor around her head, "Hey, hey… it's going to be alright kid. If there's no one else out there for you, I'll be here for you." She assured him calmly with a whisper.

Seita stared up at her his lips quivering and shaking, shifting between a smile and frown, eyes wavering, "Do you promise?" he asked her in a small voice uncertain of whether or not his family was still alive.

"I promise you." Sen assured him her had reaching out towards him, Seita quickly put his hand in hers and squeezed tightly. Sen's hand was being unbearably crushed but she smiled through the pain knowing it was the best thing for Seita. She held his hand like that until he fell asleep, she then carefully untangled her fingers from his, retrieving her spare blankets laying one out on the floor before crawling onto it and wrapping herself up in the other.

Though the ground was hard and uncomfortable particularly on her back she shifted until she was comfortable enough and then let her heavy eye lids droop having not noticed how exhausted she was until she let herself finally rest. However, despite falling into the deepest sleep of her life she was awoken in the middle of her sleep by the sound of quick footsteps followed by someone getting extremely sick.

She sat up bleary eyed temporarily forgetting what had happened before snapping to attention, "Seita?!" she yelled out to receive the response of him throwing up. She jumped up to her feet and rushed over to her small bathroom to find Seita wrapped around her toilet throwing up his guts.

She fell to her knees next to him, "Hey are you okay? What's wrong?" she asked him worriedly. Seita in response began to sob as he got sick over and over again which only made Sen more distressed, "Bud, bud hey it's going to be alright, just tell me what's making you sick." She insisted.

Seita continued to sob but between the cries he managed out broken words that at first were too distorted from his crying to understand but soon began to make sense, "It was the food... the food is making me sick." He moaned out, guilt consuming him-why hadn't he said anything earlier and why couldn't he just force himself to keep it down. Sen had turned her world upside down for him and he couldn't keep down a full meal for her.

"My food?" Sen replied wanting to be sure she heard him right, he nodded his head weakly before vomiting again, "Oh my god I'm so sorry!" she apologised, "What's wrong?" she asked him unsure of what exactly was wrong with the food.

"Food is bad for me… food bad for ghouls… I can't eat without getting sick." Seita explained to her between moans and pants for air, he'd never felt this kind of sick or injured before. It was as if his innards were being twisted and torn out from inside of him. It was excruciating and completely unbearable.

Sen's heart broke this was all her fault for making him eat, "I am so sorry! This is all my fault!" she cried out feeling horrible, "It's all my fault I made you eat! I didn't know I swear! Oh my god I am so sorry!" she continued on and on in a rush, "Wh-what can I do to make it better!?" she asked him.

Author's Rambling Space:

This story is seriously my baby right now and I want to make it perfect, the inspiration for it was this video about every day heroes, where a lot of clips were people saving each other on subway tracks and this short story I read about a small tight knit family.

I was very hesitant about posting it right now because this is all I have right now and I'm not sure it's perfect right now-but I also really wanted t get it up as soon as possible!

The goal is to be a touching story of a big sister looking out for her little brother while the two learn how to cope with being from two completely different worlds. Main characters of Tokyo Ghoul will appear (like Yomo did) but will not play extremely huge roles, their more like Easter eggs hidden throughout for you to find. I just really wanted to play around with the universe and the ghouls.

Hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading! Tokyo Ghoul isn't mine!


	2. Sick Day

In a quick rush Sen snatched Seita up from his place on the bathroom floor and rushed him back into her bed to rest pulling the sheets up tight over him, she grabbed the largest bowl she could find and put it next to him in case he got sick before getting a wet towel on his head. She then stared around her apartment confused and worried trying to remember how her parents cared for her when she was sick, she leapt up to her feet but found them locked in place.

"Medicine for his stomach, can I give him medicine or will it make it worse? I don't know anything about ghouls… shoot I should have listened more to Nagachika sempai and all that stuff he rambles on and on about…" she rambled on and on to herself out loud. She dropped down next to Seita, "What do I do? Is there anything I get you or-or feed you? You can't have ginger can you?" she asked him.

"I have ginger tea." She tried and Seita weakly shook his head, her thoughts were racing on what to eat when you're nauseous, "No crackers or toast… lemons! Can you snack on frozen lemons?!" she asked him desperately.

"No, no human food… how can you not know that?" Seita asked her weakly.

"I don't know that much about ghouls! I don't watch any of those programs on the television they make me feel uncomfortable, I already know they're out there but watching those programs makes me paranoid. But I should have watched them-I would've if I had known this would happen!" Sen rambled, "Maybe I did know and it slipped my mind, it's not like I'm around ghouls all the time or something!" she yelled out frustrated.

"Water? Can you at least drink that to settle your stomach?" She asked him and he finally nodded his head, she sighed and jumped up to her feet she snatched the largest glass she could find and filled it with ice cold water before running it back to him. She helped him sit up and handed him the water, he took it with shaking hands. Seita had never felt so sick before in his life, his stomach was in agonizing writhing knots, his body felt like it was on fire and each breath was a wheeze. His skin felt like it was melting and peeling and sliding off and he was coated in sweat as tremors ran through his body that just couldn't stop shaking. He'd never eaten so much human food before, just small nibbles here and there to get used to blending in.

He knew he should've thrown it up but he couldn't bring himself to do it, he just wanted to pretend to be human. Like being here for this one night would make everything better, he wouldn't have to hide any longer from the CCG. He could go to school and eat ice cream and cake. He just wanted to be human and live in a safe warm, welcoming home.

"Do-do you have any coffee beans?" he asked her weakly wanting something to nibble on but knowing that asking for flesh wouldn't be an option. He just wanted something to settle the pain in his stomach.

"I-I don't know I don't drink coffee, maybe I do-my boyfriend really likes it and he brings some with him." Sen stated jumping up to her feet and running to her kitchenette, she began ransacking her cabinets pulling everything out and rummaging through everything to find any source of coffee. Suddenly a container of instant coffee toppled out of the cabinet onto her head, the black ground powder spilling out over her head and the floor. She scrambled and scooped up the container rushing back over to Sieta, she threw herself onto the ground next to him, "Is this alright? It's instant coffee what should I do?" she asked him.

Seita glanced up at the container and nodded weakly, "That's fine… could-could you mix it with some water to help it go down easier?" he asked her as he curled in around his stomach clamping his arms around the pain. Sen floundered in her kitchenette and mixed some water with the instant coffee and passing it to Sen. She helped support him up and bring the cup to his lips, Seita drank slowly-he gagged and retched at first, tears pricking the corners of his eyes from the pain.

But slowly the coffee was helping to soothe him, the effect was not immediate, it was very slow acting but it was soothing. His stomach was slowly settling, the knots it had tangled its self into slowly, ever so slowly uncurled and undid themselves. His body was settling its self, he wasn't fully recovered the cramps were still there but the pain was dampened and he was able to breathe a sigh of relief. He rested his head on Sen's shoulder, "Th-thank you." He breathed.

Sen sniffled and began to cry embracing him tightly, "I'm so sorry I'm an idiot!" she cried out, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you!" she apologised to him.

"I-It's okay." Seita responded, "Um… Sen? You're kind of crushing me." He breathed out and she instantly let him go, he took in a deep breath to recover from her iron grip. Despite being painfully crushed by it the embrace soothed him and made him feel somehow better. He relaxed in her warm arms feeling safe in their cradling and coddling of him, he was still shaking and trembling but it wasn't as violent as before. He shifted his head from her shoulder to rest more comfortably on her chest and now could hear her heart beat and it soothed him as well, he was still aching all over and his head pounding but it was getting better.

Sen could feel how Seita's tremors were slowly receding, his body had felt like a tightly coiled spring at first but now that spring was slowly relaxing the tension easing out. His hands were clutching onto the front of her shirt as if he were afraid she'd leave him but she wasn't going anywhere without him. She ran her fingers through his hair massaging his scalp knowing that's what she liked best when she was sick. As her skin brushed against his he still felt red hot like running a fever, "Have some more water." She encouraged his grabbing the glass and passing it to him. He drank from the glass like he had gone days without water, he felt heat recede from his cheeks almost immediately and liked the feel of the cold rush down his throat into his stomach. He relaxed back in the circle of Sen's arms as she went back to massaging his scalp and rubbing circles on his back.

The two of them lost track of time but slowly the night passed them by as they sat together on Sen's futon, Sen nursing Seita as he slowly recovered from his ailing body. She watched as his head dropped from exhaustion, his eyes fluttering and dropping shut just as the sky began to lighten outside. She could tell he wasn't fully recovered from last night, but had certainly gotten better. His fever had gone down significantly, he was only a few degrees warmer than he should be, he was no longer shaking and trembling in her arms nor clutching his stomach and vomiting. Small groans would occasionally slip out from his lips but Sen sighed in relief knowing the worst was over.

Slowly she saw the sun crawl up into the sky lazily to start a new day and by that time her eyes were dropping as well, she yawned tucking Seita back into the futon and pulling the sheets up over him. She cleared away the bowl he'd gotten sick into and retrieved a clean one for him before laying down onto the sheets she'd readied for herself. Before she knew it she had fallen asleep as well, it was an exhausted tired sort of sleep in which she had no dreams.

She was awoken by the shrill screech of her telephone, she jumped startled her sheets flying everywhere and her head whipping around as she clambered up to her feet from her surprise. Seita was jerked awake as well staring wide eyed at Sen. She took a breath to calm herself and walked over to her phone picking up the receiver, "H-Hello?" she asked trying to sound awake and calm despite her racing heart and the realisation that yesterday had actually happened.

"This is Y High School calling to inquire as to why Fujiwara Sen is not in class." The school receptionist stated professionally from the other end.

Sen snapped to attention as she realised she had slept in and missed her Friday classes, she swung around to look at her clock, at this point in time there'd be no point in going to school because by the time she got there she'd have missed over half her classes. She sniffed her nose and gave a cough before responding, "Y-yes I apologise I had meant to call in this morning, I'm just not feeling all that well. I suppose I must have dozed off after taking my medicine." She explained her voice thankfully scratchy from the late night making her sound sick.

The receptionist paused and with her response seemed to be frowning, "Oh dear you sound quite sick Miss Fujiwara." She quipped and Sen could hear her fingers flying across the school computer keyboard, "Well you remain at home but next time please call before school hours to inform us of your absence. I'll let it go this time dear as you sound quite sick and this is your first time." She then lectured Sen.

Sen nodded her head a ditzy smile stretching across her face, she didn't think she sounded all that sick or convincing but the secretary seemed to think so, "I'm so sorry for the inconvenience it won't happen again." She replied, the line on the other end disconnected and she hung up her phone. She turned around to look at Seita apologetically, "Sorry that was my school calling-I missed class."

Seita still slightly sleepy nodded his head somewhat dazed. He stared around the unfamiliar yet at the same time familiar room from last night, the events of yesterday slowly sinking in, "It's no problem at all Sen." He stated.

She nodded her head and then rubbed the back of her neck apologetically, "I'd offer to make you breakfast but I don't think you'll be having any." She stated giving a weak chuckle not sure if she should laugh or not. But as a small smile crept its way onto Seita's face she smiled back and laughed, "You mind if I make myself something to eat?" she asked him.

Seita suddenly felt a jolt of energy rush through him, he'd finally waken all the way up. He nodded his head excitedly, "Could I-Can I watch you cook?" he asked still fascinated with the idea of cooking. He rolled his shoulders and shifted about from his spot on the futon, surprised at how fast he had recovered from last night. He thought for sure he'd still feel sick and worn out, his body locked in agony. _Maybe it's because I threw it all up before I really digested it_ he thought to himself as he tried to reason out as to why he was sick. But suddenly a bolt of pain shot through his abdomen and up his spine his hair prickling, he winced _nope I'm still in pain_ he thought to himself.

Sen blinked confused from Seita's request, "Sure you can." She said not sure why he was interested but saw no reason as to why she should decline his offer. She snatched her apron and tied it around her waist, "My parents never cooked, and I never learned how until I started working at a restaurant a year ago-I'm not extremely interested in cooking but I'm pretty decent at it." She explained to him as she finished tying the bow at the back, "Now what do you want to see me make-I learned how to make a Western style omelette the other day." She chatted with him in a friendly tone.

Seita unsure of what it meant nodded eagerly, "Sure that, cook that!" he exclaimed happily.

Sen smiled grabbing the last few eggs from her fridge as well as milk and a few different vegetables, "One of the chefs whose been working there for years noticed right away I had no idea how to cook and taught me when the restaurant was closed. Every week he teaches me a new recipe." She said as she cracked the eggs and cut her vegetables, Seita hovered by her elbow the entire time watching eagerly. Sen brought the fresh cut veggies to her nose inhaling, "Smells nice and fresh." She remarked and reflexively went to pass it to Seita but hesitated remembering last night.

He smiled gratefully, even from this distance he could smell the so called fresh vegetables which to his nose smelled rotten and putrid, as if infested with most vile fungus and had been covered in animal wastes. He recoiled away his nose curled in disgust as Sen dropped the piece back on her cutting board and resumed chopping, "I'm fine thank you… human food makes me-ghouls that is to say extremely sick…. I thought everyone knew that." He remarked.

Sen flushed bright red and sliced her own finger open by accident, "Ow! Damn it!" she said sticking her finger into her mouth, her tongue curled in disgust at the coppery taste meanwhile Seita slammed his hands over his nose so he couldn't smell Sen. As Sen sucked on her finger she explained herself, "I'm ditzy by nature, I guess I just forgot… I mean you don't look like a ghoul to me-you look like a child to me, someone who was scared, needed a place to go and someone to care for them."

She gave a bubble of hysteric laughter, "A-and I have to admit hearing about ghouls it makes me really uncomfortable and scared… I've lived in some harsh neighbourhoods that were bad enough because of people but to think there was something scarier out there too." She shivered, "I can't think straight and I get paranoid." She explained, "So I kind of always put that kind of thing to the back of my mind…" she trailed off looking glum, "I can't put it into words how sorry I am for what I did, I didn't know-" Sen started.

Seita yanked on the back of Sen's clothes, "It's alright, I'm not mad." He said to comfort her seeing how distressed she was over the issue, "Keep showing me how to cook." He said and went back to watching her keenly with avid interest. He watched as the eggs hit the skillet and began to cook, he found for the majority of the process he had to keep his nose pinched shut because the scent was so strong. But nonetheless it was amazing to watch how the things around her kitchen became one thing completely different. It looked fluffy and light and airy, the golden colour was amazing it was a work of art-Seita wanted the ability to do it himself.

"That was so cool I want to be able to do that!" he chanted even if he couldn't taste it the ability to make something like that would be incredible. Staring at the egg he wondered what it tasted like- that is to say to a human, how would it taste on their palette he wondered, he tried to picture it but really couldn't manage to even get something resembling a guess.

Sen giggled at how excited he was, "Really? You want to cook-but why?"

"You like mixed a whole bunch of things together and it became a different thing-what's it like does it taste good? What does it taste like? Are eggs sweet or savory? Would it be salty or bitter?" he asked her, he'd always wanted to know what food tasted like to humans. Sen smiled and humored him, she sat down and every bite he excitedly pestered her with questions about the taste and texture which Sen answered happily.

As she cleared the last bite she playfully poked Seita with her fork, "You know I'm starting to think you want to be a chef." She quipped as she stood up washing off her plate and everything she used to cook, she didn't like things to get messy especially in her apartment.

Seita's head coked to the side, "Chef? Is that a person who works in a restaurant." He asked her not quite sure what the word meant, television had given him a rough idea it was someone who cooked but he only thought that was for television.

Sen nodded, "Yep, the head chief is the one in charge of the kitchen in a restaurant but there are executive chefs, sous chefs…" she scratched the back of her neck and smiled sheepishly, "I couldn't really explain them all though." She said admitting her lack of knowledge in the field, she barely even knew how to cook after all.

"But don't you work in a restaurant?" he asked her confused, "Doesn't that mean you want to be a chef?" from his perspective if you work a job it was because you were interested in that field and wanted to pursue it, that's how his mother explained humans to him.

"For a high schooler who hasn't had a job before, a dish washer is one of the few jobs you can get easily. My parents send me the money for my apartment rent and utilities but I pay for all my food, clothes and other expenses. So I took the job to cover the money." Sen exclaimed and sighed balancing her chin on her hand, "It was also one of the few jobs my parents approved of… they don't support my dream." She trailed off sadly.

Seita immediately sensed the change in Sen as she remarked about how her parents didn't support her, "Why, what's your dream?" he asked her curiously.

A huge smile spread across her face, "A professional makeup artist… the models and human canvases are… are just that canvases for you to decorate with your own personal art and touches. The feel of a makeup brush in hand and how nicely the makeup sweeps across the skin. You see the rush of excitement on their faces as they realise how beautiful they are… but they were beautiful at the start but you just make them feel so amazing by the end." She gushed out, "I could do fashion models or movies, I could do costume make up." Her mind fluttered with all the possibilities of what she could do.

"That sounds so cool! You should do it!" Seita cheered excitedly instantly won over by Sen's miniature monologue. She smiled back at him and he liked the warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of his stomach from the happy moment.

Sen sighed though as she realised that they would now have to discuss some serious things, after all Sen wasn't a house guest or a friend. She glanced over at Seita, "I think we should have a talk." She stated to him, his smile left his face and it became serious and he nodded his head. They soon found themselves sitting on the floor of her apartment facing each other. A few awkward minutes of silence ensued as the two of them tried to figure out how to start the conversation. Sen's patience finally waned and she clapped her hands together and began to rub them nervously, "Alright, let's start at the beginning. Could you tell me exactly what happened to you yesterday? Where we can find your mother and brother, and any other family you have, like maybe your father?" she asked him.

Seita looked up at her with hollow eyes, "I-I don't really know where to start… my father disappeared when I was small-I don't even know if he's alive." He started, "I don't know what we did to tip them off-the doves-"

"Doves?" Sen repeated unfamiliar with the term and instantly clamped her mouth shut not having meant to interrupt Seita.

Seita frowned and then realised her confusion, "The CCG officers-doves. I don't know what any of us could have done but they had found us." He repeated as his mind flipped back to yesterday that felt like it had been an eternity ago. Had it really been a day since he'd lost everything he'd ever known, was it really only a day ago that he was able to wake up at home, he looked down at his hand and flexed it, "We were walking through the market yesterday, my brother needed a new jacket, I was holding my mom's hand."

"Suddenly a man tapped my mother's shoulder asking to speak with her, but she panicked and suddenly she was yanking on my arm telling me to run. I didn't understand what was happening but just knew that I had to run no matter what." He narrated remembering the events, but he quickly corrected himself not remembering but reliving. He could picture the stalls they dashed past and the people he crashed into who shouted at him angrily. His feet pounding hard on the pavement amazed at how fast his mother could run, one of her heels went flying off her foot and the bun she had carefully pinned behind her head that morning fell apart her long silk hair flying out behind her.

They ran for what seemed like forever, his lungs burned and his throat was raw, his legs cramping but his mother and brother were relentless and didn't let up pace. He could picture his brother turning back to look at him telling him everything was okay and just pick up the pace for a little while longer. And then everything had suddenly gone so wrong his brother went flying, his mother screamed and he was knocked to the ground.

He lay there stunned as his mother's Kagune erupted out from her back tearing through her favourite dress, his brother was at his side yanking him to his feet telling him they had to go. Suddenly the street was swarmed with doves that seemed to have materialized out of thin air. His brother tore him off the ground and ran carrying Seita as if he weighed nothing but the two didn't get far before more doves had them cornered. They were backed up in a closed off alley trembling and cowering on the ground certain of their death. When out of nowhere their mother reappeared, her clothes torn and frayed, panting and limping covered in blood that was both hers and not.

She fought the doves valiantly, savagely, she was a mother defending her children at all costs. When the two boys saw an opening they dashed to get behind her, they smiled excitedly as their mother drove back their attackers. But she was exhausted and injured and very quickly the tables had turned on her. Seita could remember his brother's screams as if they were happening in his ear at that second, the never ending 'don't look's and 'it will be okay's as his hand slammed over Seita's eyes to shield him from the grisly sight. The two were screaming as they ran now certain they were going to die. They did the first thing that came to mind and dashed down into the subway screaming in terror unsure of what awaited them but hoping there was a crowd to get lost in or a train to jump onto to save their lives. But Sen already knew what happened next, the subway was not packed as they had hoped, the train had taken too long to save their lives.

"I see," Sen replied after a long moment of silence following where Seita had trailed off, "I'm sorry for the loss of your mother, and it looks like your father is a dead end as well. We can look for your brother-do you have any other family-an aunt or an uncle perhaps? Or a close friend of the family I can entrust you to?" She asked him knowing full well that she wasn't exactly the best option for him. She was only in high school, working at one part time job and possibly a second depending on whether or not her application gets accepted. She couldn't be there for him, was tight on funds and had little to no idea how to raise a child let alone a ghoul.

Seita meanwhile thought long and hard of all the people his mother had introduced him to but not one of them was familiar enough for him to consider living with. His mother never made any arrangements, or if she did hadn't told Seita about them most likely entrusting his elder brother with the information. Sen's gaze softened, "I see you really are alone then aren't you?"

 _I can't just kick him out on the street, not after taking him in like I did yesterday,_ "Alright, I'll let you stay here-and together we'll look for your brother. Maybe he knows someplace safe-or maybe we can find the ghoul foster care system," Sen stated really hopeful that such a system existed that she could trust Seita to, "My parents never visit, and the land lady only checks in here about once a month so I we have time to come up with an explanation until then. Since you don't eat human food that makes expenses a little cheaper," she rambled on as she thought harder on the situation. Seita wanted to interrupt and ask about eating arrangements but then shut his mouth realising that would be an uncomfortable topic of discussion since Sen was the diet and decided to wait until a later time to bring up the topic.

He was dragged out of his thoughts by Sen exclaiming, "School! How could I forget about school! What school do you go to, is there tuition? How do I access your family register?" She asked him clamping her hands down on his shoulders and shaking him, "I forgot to ask if you needed me to call you in sick-why didn't you say anything?"

"I don't go to school," Seita flushed bright red in embarrassment as he admitted to the fact, he didn't have education, he could if he really tied read simple katakana phrases and simple math but that was the extent of his education, "and what's a family register?" Seita asked confused, from the way Sen spoke it seemed very important.

Sen took that in and had to think for a second, "I can't tell if this is an advantage or an obstacle that you don't go to school. Hmm, you can still get into college as long as you pass entrance exams-so maybe not being able to get you into elementary school or high school isn't that big of a deal. It might even save on expenses if we only have to pay for tuition then too. I suppose I can pick up some work books and teach you myself," she thought aloud, "And maybe when I have some extra funds I can look into getting you into school somehow, how much of a bribe do you think I'd need to get you in to an elementary school?" she asked him playfully and he giggled, Sen reached out to ruffle his hair around which had oddly become reflex over the past twenty four hours for her to calm herself and him down.

"Alright ground rules, don't let me feed you, and you don't eat me," she teased him deciding it was time to lighten the mood a bit.

He laughed shoving her hand off his head, "Deal."

"You have to clean up any messes you make," she eyed him seriously and he nodded his head in agreement and she burst out into a smile, "Any homework I give you-you do without whining," he nodded his head secretly excited about learning, "And I guess that's it. Geez, that was a lot to cover let's take a break I'm tired," Sen remarked throwing herself backwards to lay out on the ground she really was exhausted so much had happened, her life was totally upside down now. Seita observed his new caretaker laying on the ground looking as worn out as he felt, he didn't blame her this had been an exciting twenty four hours. Seita crawled over next to her and collapsed his one arm stretching out across her stomach.

"You're a weird human," he remarked teasingly.

Sen giggled, "And you're an adorable little ghoul," she remarked ruffling her fingers through his feathery soft brown hair once again. They lay there for several minutes staring absently up at the ceiling, Seita snuggling in closer and enjoying the warmth of Sen's body, "You know I always wanted a little brother." Sen remarked absently thinking back on it. It had been lonely growing up an only child where both of your parents' jobs had them out of the house for the majority of the time. Her parents hadn't been to over half of her birthdays growing up-she couldn't even remember the last holiday everyone had been together.

"Well I'm yours for now," Seita replied sleepily with a yawn as the two drifted off to sleep stretched out haphazardly on the floor.


	3. Coffee run

Sen jerked awake suddenly in the middle of the night, unsure of what exactly had woken her. She was going to sit up immediately but found that Seita had rested his head on her stomach and was sound asleep. She smiled at how happy and relaxed he looked in his sleep, he still looked sickly pale and the dark bags weren't entirely gone from under his eyes but he wasn't twitching feverishly in his sleep and groaning in pain like the previous night.

Sen sighed in relief, nearly killing Seita by accident had terrified her, it was scarier than running out on the subway tracks. She'd rather redo the deadly sprint than put Seita in such a dangerous situation ever again. She wondered what her parents would think, they had always disapproved of her attempting to care for anything as a child. She recalled vividly the many attempts at asking for a pet, or taking in sick or injured animals to care for and her parents' clear disapproval and rejection. Sen was the kind of person that would jump head first into doing anything to help someone out, had been since she was little despite her parents' attitude. _Now here I am with not only an orphan to look out for but a ghoul too_ she remarked to herself mentally with smirk, _who would've thought that I would have been the one to end up with the ghoul considering I can't even stand horror movies or being out at night. I guess I can prove my parent's wrong now about how responsible I am._ Sen's parent's disapproval had started to mean less to her as the years went by, after all despite their protests she had gotten the job as a dish washer. Despite their certainty she would come back to them crying after a year of living alone she was doing just fine, in fact she enjoyed living alone much more than she ever did living with her parents.

She shifted on the floor and realised how kinked her back was from sleeping on the hard surface. She winced and tried her best to stretch without jostling Seita too much and risk waking him. She then realised just how cold it was on the floor, _probably not the best thing to sleep on the hard wood floor in the cold for a sick little kid_ Sen mentally remarked, she slowly and painstaking shifted Seita off of her so she could stand up and drag his futon over to him and wrap him up in the warm soft blankets.

As she went to move him into the nest of blankets and pillows her hand brushed against his skin and she felt how hot he was. She froze in fear, his fever wasn't that high the day before, it had been high but t had never risen drastically. She didn't know how long it had been that high, she never got fevers that high. She dashed off to her small bathroom and scrambled through the various cabinets to find the thermometer, fumbling with it she returned to his side and slipped it in his mouth. She read it as 108 degrees Fahrenheit and her stomach dropped that was dangerously high for a human child. She dashed off to her freezer and rooted around for the ice packs and dragged them all out, wetting a wash cloth in the process, she placed them all round Seita who grumbled and slowly blinked before waking.

"Why is it so hot?" he asked Sen panting heavily, he'd been sleeping so soundly and his lids felt so heavy, "I-I'm so thirsty," he groaned his throat dry and burning. The coolness of the ice packs tucked under his armpits was a great relief but his body still felt as though it was on fire and his stomach was once again cramping and coiling itself into tight knots.

"I'll get you water," Sen rushed out and sprinted over to the sink, she was trembling so hard the glass she held slipped from her fingers and crashed to the counter shattered. This only drove her anxiety higher and her vision was quickly blurring and on the verge of becoming tunnel like. She slammed her hand on the counter in front of her to try and snap some sense back into herself taking several long seconds to realise she had just slammed her hand into shattered glass. Seita smelled the blood right away, it rang so clearly through him even as all of his other senses felt crushed or overwhelmed by the fever. His heart raced in his chest and his breathing was tight from the fever. His stomach felt uneasy but growled in hunger and he tried to supress the sensation ashamed to show Sen his ghoul nature. Sen finally managed to collect herself, the stinging pain from the glass centering her on the present. She snatched the towel off the over and wrapped it around her hand to staunch the bleeding; the white towel quickly gaining several red stains.

With her uninjured hand she made up a glass of ice cold water in a plastic cup so if she or Seita were to drop it neither of them would hurt themselves, "I broke a glass in the kitchen watch out for glass I'll clean it up when I have a second," Sen cautioned as she turned around with the glass, suddenly aware of how Sen's glassy half-lidded eyes watched her closely. They flashed with something unfamiliar that Sen couldn't place.

She swept down to Seita's side holding out the glass, Seita attempted weakly to take it from her put didn't even have the strength to sit up. Sen jumped and quickly helped the young boy prop himself up by rearranging the pillows around him. She helped hold and tilt the glass for him, he drank hungrily. The cool rush of water down his throat and into the empty pit that was his stomach was a welcome miracle. He finished off the glass smacking his lips together in satisfaction.

"I'll go get more," Sen offered seeing how thirstily Seita had downed the glass of water, _the fever could be a result of dehydration, getting fluids into him should help lower it_ she thought to herself. Absently she reached out with her injured hand to accept the glass that Seita had resting directly under his nose. Reflexively Seita's nose twitched in response to the food shoved directly under it relishing in the scent.

 _No!_ he mentally scolded himself _you are not hungry, you are not a ghoul. You will not eat Sen._ He tried to tell himself, but his stomach was twisting in agonizing knots desperate for something to take the place of the toxins he had taken in yesterday. His sickness had depleted his energy much more quickly than he had thought it would or even possibly could-it felt as if he hadn't eaten for over a month. Reflexively his mouth salivated in anticipation of the meal, _no you don't need it. You don't want it_ he chanted in his head focusing everything he had into not thinking about how good Sen would taste, how it would ease his stomach and lower his fever. It was his own fault for eating the human food anyways, he should suffer the consequences. Suddenly Sen was back in front of him with the glass refilled and still looking overly worried, her uninjured hand rested against his forehead and Seita sighed in relief as the cool flesh pressed against his scorching forehead. It brought him such relief to have her hand there, it felt as if his entire body temperature had dropped by a few degrees just by having that coolness there.

Her injured hand brought the glass back up to his mouth to help him drink, the taunting smell of blood filling his nostrils. He tried so hard to ignore it, but it was as if the harder he tried to ignore it the more it bothered him, "Seita are you alright?" Sen asked him worriedly, "Oh shoot my hand," she realised yanking it away from him, "Damn it that was cruel of me-sorry I'm so horrible," she apologised rushing off to the sink to wash her hand off. _Should I call a hospital and ask what to do? Or what about poison control since he ate something toxic? Should I find the number to a pediatrician and make a story up about the source of the fever?_ She wondered to herself.

"S-Sen…" Seita weakly panted out as he finally remembered something of use, "My mom-my mom said that if I can't find food I should go to An-Anteiku. They wi-ll help me," he managed out, the thought coming to him as hazy memories filtered their way through his mind. The name was familiar to Sen's ears and then she realised it was a café she passed by on a near regular basis.

"Anteiku-that's good to know," she remarked and bit her lip worriedly _they should be closed at this hour right? It's the middle of the night, do cafes serve all night long or is that just fast food restaurants?_ She pondered to herself. Seita meanwhile was having a hard time keeping his thoughts straight now as his energy began to fail him. He could no longer tell if it was his mother or if it was Sen in front of him changing the wash cloth and giving him water. His chest rose in short shallow, rapid gasps and wheezes for air.

 _Everything hurts, it hurts so much_ Seita thought to himself _make it stop, mom do something to make it all better. My stomach hurts so much, I'm so hungry. Mom make me better, please. My fever is so hot_ Seita whined mentally unable to move his mouth to form the words watching his mom tend to him worriedly. Suddenly he could smell it, human flesh, his mom had brought him food. He was ecstatic and filled with a sudden vigor. He clamped down on the flesh his mother presented him and bit down into it hungrily. Sen shrieked in agony, she had been readjusting the pillows around Seita so he could lie back in a more comfortable position when he suddenly latched onto her forearm and bit a sizeable chunk out of her arm. His grip was like iron and was crushing down painfully hard Sen winced and wondered how close to breaking her arm he'd come. She watched in mild surprise and horror as he chewed and swallowed the flesh, he relaxed his grip the slightest bit and she used that to break away.

Seita was aware that his food was pulling away, he snarled and bit at it again. A scream and a strike to the side of his head snapped him back to reality and he realised he had just bitten Sen. He let her go immediately and dragged himself away from her. Tears pricked at his eyes and he was sobbing in seconds.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I didn't mean it!" he cried out. As he backed away from her scared of himself and inability to control himself. The pillows and blankets were scattered everywhere as he skid back in fright until his back hit the wall.

Sen backed up trying not to look afraid but on her toes, his attack had come out of nowhere. But he genuinely looked upset for what he'd done, "It's alright," she assured him, "Just calm down alright?" she asked him feeling like she was speaking to an injured animal.

Seita was still sobbing at this point from guilt pulling his knees in under his chin and hiding his face from her in shame, "I hurt you really badly. I'm so sorry Sen."

Sen glanced down at the two bite wounds and the bruises forming on her arm, "Nonsense, I'm just fine!" she remarked trying to sound chipper and quickly hiding her arm behind her back. She scrambled up to her feet, "I think though it's time that I paid a visit to Anteiku. Maybe they can help us better than I can, maybe I can get some food for you," she answered realising how out of her depth she was and really hoping that someone there could help her.

Seita sniffled, his tears still streaking down his face, "I should come with you," he insisted since he was the ghoul. He wasn't sure how safe Sen would be there especially is she burst in covered in blood and asking for ghouls, what if they accidentally mistook her for an investigator. He was the only evidence for her to prove she really did need their help.

Sen shook her head, "Not in you state, you can't even stand on your own. I'll be right back I swear. Just stay here. Drink you water. If the neighbours ask about the screaming just say I sliced my hand open on the glass really bad and went to the medical clinic down the street. There's glass and blood everywhere to prove it too," She insisted filled with determination, "I'll find you help I promise," She assured him tearing her coat of the rack by her door and locking the door shut behind her. She dashed out of the apartment recalling the directions she'd need to follow to get to her destination.

Sen rushed down the street desperately her head swivelling left and right before she caught sight of it Anteiku, at last she could see the coffee shop it was still open despite the late hour. Warm yellow light spilled out onto the street and many people sat around tables idly chatting and enjoying their coffee and desserts. As she neared the café Sen slowed her pace not wanting to look odd as she entered by dashing in. She slowed down to a clipped walk, trying her best not to pant from exhaustion. She slipped in and glanced around, it looked like a regular café and was worried that Seita had sent her to the wrong place.

People were happily sipping away on coffee all around her, talking or reading or writing. She couldn't tell ghoul from human, she had no idea who to approach. She walked up to the counter worriedly running her hands through her hair not caring if it was making it messy and tangled. The blue haired waitress was quickly shuffling around and hadn't noticed Sen who decided to call out albeit hesitantly, "Ex-excuse me!" she called out.

The blue haired waitress pause and turned to look at her with a friendly smile, "What can I do for you today?" she asked politely.

Sen opened her mouth to respond but paused the words dying in her throat as she tried to think of what to say, her moth slowly closed and she bit down on her lip. Her eyes glanced around the shop unsure about what to say or whether any one was listening or watching. She slowly leaned around the counter licking her lips nervously as her palms began to sweat, "I need to speak with your manager it's very important. Please let me speak with him." She pleaded with the younger blue haired girl.

Touka eyed the human girl who was acting strangely warily, she smelled strongly of ghoul. But the girl was acting really jumpy and odd, she had no idea what she would want with the manager. "He's busy right now." Touka settled for, "Maybe if you could come back later."

"No that won't work! It's a really important emergency!" Sen blurted out loudly but then ducked her head embarrassed, but was resolved to get her point across. With her eyes hardening she stared up at the waitress, "I just need to speak with him for a quick second, it's about my family." She waved the girl in and they leaned across the counter close enough to whisper, "My little brother is starving and I don't know how to get him food… he just said to come here and they would help me." There was a pause and neither of them moved, "Please just a little bit to tide him over, he bit me and feels really horrible about it… but I-I can't kill someone, I'm not strong enough and neither is he." She added on.

Touka's eyes widened in surprise, she was at first confused by what the girl was saying but came around to understanding, being this close to her, Touka could smell the dried blood on the human and the scent of ghoul was much stronger. Touka glanced left and right to make sure no one was watching, "Come with me, don't make a scene." Touka hissed snatching the desperate human girl's hand leading her around the counter and quickly flipping up the counter top.

Sen slipped through the entry way that Touka then shut quickly behind her, Sen found herself then being dragged along by Touka to the door behind the counter and quickly up a flight of stairs. Another one of the servers was coming down and she instantly looked worried when she saw Touka dragging a girl behind her, "Is everything alright?" she asked in her breathy high voice, her large blue eyes shining with concern.

"She needs to see the manager, It's an emergency." Touka responded quickly and watched Lawrence glance over her shoulder in the direction of the manager's room biting her pink lip.

"He's occupied at the moment-I can help though." Lawrence offered smiling warmly at the girl behind Touka whom she'd never seen at Anteiku before who looked frightened and scared. She bounced her way down the stairs and took Sen's hands in hers, "Allow me to help you." She insisted kindly a French accent in her voice matching her European features, "I'm Lawrence but you can call me Larry if you want." She said looking into the dark eyes of the worried customer, she then smiled at Touka, "I can take things over from here Touka you worry about your shift."

Touka snorted through her nose and blew her bangs out of her face, "Fine do whatever you want," She retorted, though on the inside she was relieved that Lawrence, her senior at Anteiku, was handling the unique problem. Lawrence looked harmless and helpless but Touka knew not to cross the happy, ditzy looking ghoul. She whorled around on her spot on the stairs and marched her way back to the café to attend to the customers' needs.

Lawrence smiled down at the girl, "What do you need?" she asked the girl before her, it was at that point that Sen noticed how the girl favoured her left leg over her right, there was an odd sort of hopping motion when she walked like she had a limp.

Sen froze mid-step, "I-I don't know," she responded realising how in over her head she had gotten, "There was an accident and he ate a lot of human food. He's been really sick the past two days, high fever, tremors, nausea, dehydration," she rambled out the symptoms worriedly, she was trembling herself, "I don't usually look after him but he lost his mother the other day-she knew what to do. He bit me twice so I guess he's hungry but I don't know what to do after that. Is there any kind of medicine?"

"Let me grab something from the back and then I'll come back with you. I'm a ghoul too so I should be able to help out," Lawrence offered kindly taking in the sight of the frightened human girl who looked at her wit's end, "Just wait here for one moment please."

Sen nodded her head as Lawrence turned around her blonde ponytail snapping out behind her, Sen watched as the girl walked back up the stairs with the odd hopping sort of pace laving Sen at the base of the stairs on her own.

Sen wrapped her arms around herself and shivering from a sudden chill running down her spine, "What are you doing here?" a voice asked her from behind causing her to jump in the air in fright. She whipped around to face the silver haired man from the subway station gazing down at her worriedly. Frightened she back pedalled away from him until her back hit a wall, he was still wearing that long trench coat. _Is he a CCG officer too is that why he's in the coat? Has he been following me? Is this place secretly a CCG office? Or is he a ghoul? He's really big and scary if he is a ghoul-will he eat me?_ Sen wondered in fright her knees trembling. Lawrence and the blue haired girl had been ghouls but they didn't strike any fear into Sen, but this silver haired man before her made her stomach drop to the ground. There were thunking feet on the stairs but Sen didn't bother to glance up eyes locked on the silver haired man. Lawrence winced with every step down the stairs her bad leg hurting her with every step and jostle, stairs were always a bother but after a long day it was worse than usual.

"I'm back with everything I think we'll need-Yomo-san?" Lawrence's French accented voice asked blinking in confusion at the appearance of the behind the scenes worker for Anteiku who usually wasn't in at this hour.

"I smelled lots of human blood and grew worried there was a situation," he explained monotonously. Lawrence sniffed the air and detected the scent of blood that she had let slip her mind until that moment. Her blue eyes slid over to Sen the only human in the room and realised that the scent was rolling off of her.

"I didn't realise you were so badly hurt," Lawrence stated her blonde brows scrunching together from worry, "May I be allowed to see the wounds?" she asked gently, Sen paused for a second to weigh her options and decided to roll the sleeve of her jacket up to reveal the two bite marks. Lawrence nearly dropped the supplies in her arms out of surprise, "Oh dear that's bad! We need to deal with that right away!" she exclaimed worried for the human, those were some serious hospital worthy wounds. They couldn't be stitched shut either from the enormous size of the wound.

"No Seita need my help now!" Sen insisted frantically the task already taking longer than she had thought it would take, "I can wait!"

Yomo cleared his throat, "If I may suggest, I tend to the boy. Lawrence you care for the girl," he offered.

Lawrence blinked up at Yomo in surprise, he was rather talkative this evening and rather helpful, "Of course, here. I grabbed some meat in this package for right now to settle his hunger and stomach. And then I grabbed some house blended coffee and our special sugar cubes to help tide him over for a few days," she explained and then paused realising that Yomo knew that Seita was a boy but thought better than to bring it up since time was of the essence. Yomo accepted the several paper packages and cast one final glance down at the tiny human girl that had chosen to save the life of a ghoul. He then turned around and set off outside of the store without another word.

Sen stared after him worriedly, "No need to worry about Yomo, he's tough and strong. But he can be quite caring and gentle if the situation calls for it. Seita will be in good hands," Lawrence assured Sen seeing the worry on her features, "Now let's see what I can do for you," Lawrence smiled happily. The French ghoul soon had Sen set up in a room upstairs, Sen glanced around in surprise at the tiny house like setting she didn't expect apartments to be above the café. The interior was quaint and welcoming, Sen felt at ease in the room even though she was being helped by a ghoul.

Lawrence bustled around the room quickly she chose the small dining table to be the base of operations and cleared it off. She soon cleaned off and sterilized table in preparation for Sen. Sen sat down at the dining table her injured arm outstretched under the bright yellow light of the room revealing the two large wounds dried blood smeared everywhere.

She took a good look at the large circular wounds that Seita had inflicted, Lawrence was glancing at them worriedly too, "I'm so very sorry that I can't do anything about the scarring you'll get. If you went to a hospital they could make it like the wound never happened. But then you'd be risking Seita's life since you'd have to explain how you got it and the CCG would investigate," she observed sadly.

"I know a thing or two about treating wounds though, I've had my fair share," the blonde explained though Sen had trouble seeing it, Lawrence had an air of gentleness and care. To imagine such a delicate and fragile looking girl having grievous wounds was difficult for Sen, but she supposed with ghouls appearances were always deceiving, "Have you washed it out at all?" Lawrence asked Sen.

"No I didn't have time," Sen responded.

Lawrence smiled, "Alright let's start with that, it's important to sterilize a bite wound first. Especially those of human or ghoul origin. Since there isn't any swelling or redness I assume an infection hasn't set in yet so we should hurry," Lawrence arranged for warm water and soap to wash out the wound, "It's going to sting," She cautioned Sen while she held a soaked wash cloth up, Sen nodded her head and braced. It stung horribly and Sen had to bite down on her lip so as not to cry out in pain, she could see that Lawrence who was working thoroughly was trying to be as fast as she could for Sen's sake. Her brows knit together in concentration and her eyes wavering showing her empathy for Sen.

Lawrence pulled the wash cloth away and glanced down at her work, "That's it for sterilizing it, let's take a minute to let you catch your breath and then we'll apply antibiotics to the wound. I've got some ibuprofen with me for the pain by the way," Lawrence remarked pulling out the bottle of medicine she grabbed when she was getting the warm water ready.

Sen accepted the medicine and downed it, "Alright I'm ready for the antibiotics," she said, and Lawrence was quick to comply. The gel was cool against the wound and the process was several times less painful than the sterilisation.

"Now just to bandage it all up," Lawrence chirped holding up the bandages when the wound was sufficiently covered in antibiotics. Lawrence treated to Sen's wounds with an experienced gentle hand that showed great dexterity in manipulating Sen's arm so as not to cause any discomfort. Her arm was soon bandaged up and Lawrence was taking a look at Sen's hand that was throbbing with dull pain.

"I'll need a pair of tweezers to get the remainder of the glass out," Lawrence remarked and disappeared for a quick second, Sen watched the girl move silently like a spectre out of the room despite her odd gait and Sen wondered why it was the girl walked so oddly. Lawrence returned back with a sweet smile on her face.

"Sorry about all the blood it must bother you," Sen apologised remembering how it had upset Seita so much.

"Oh nonsense, I've gotten really good at controlling my hunger. I really like humans you know," Lawrence giggled, Sen flushed at the sight of the pretty girl. Lawrence was gorgeous with large bright doll like eyes, silky curtain of pale blonde hair. Sen would love to do make up for Lawrence, she began imagining all the possible ways she could do it, "I stopped hunting after I lost my leg in an accident. I'm really thankful for that accident though it really changed my life around. I found this place and it's been like a dream ever since," her blue eyes glanced up and met Sen's brown ones, "I hope you and your bother Seita can become like family to us here, you seem like really good people," Lawrence said taking Sen's uninjured hand and squeezing it to be reassuring. Sen smiled only sensing honesty and friendly intent from Lawrence.

"Alright time for tweezers!" Lawrence remarked drawing Sen's attention back to her hand that was throbbing with dull pain and was bright red now. Lawrence furrowed her brow in concentration as she twisted Sen's hand around looking for shards of glass embedded in the flesh, "When you get back home alternate between applying warmth and cold to sore areas to reduce bruising and inflammation," she doctored Sen.

Sen nodded her head, "I'm sorry for being rude but don't ghouls have extreme regeneration. I was just wondering about your leg, I'm still very new to all of this. I mean I nearly killed Seita giving him a plate of food for dinner," she laughed to cover her embarrassment flushing bright red and then releasing a curse word as a particularly painful shard of glass was pulled out.

Lawrence pursued her lips and sighed through her nose, "Under conditions of extreme trauma and stress to the body healing will be hindered or repressed in ghouls. Artificially healing can also be prevented by Rc cell repression, in which case healing can be impeded for short duration. In my case I was given the suppressants and received significant burns, by the time I was able to regenerate I had a layer of dead tissue in the way so I couldn't restore my lost limb," Lawrence explained and Sen noticed how pained Lawrence voice sounded. Sen wondered if the grievous injury resulted in Lawrence's superior knowledge in first aid she was demonstrating now.

"I'm sorry for having brought up something so painful and sad," Sen responded guilty for asking now.

"Not at all, everyone's curious about it-ghouls tend to be the worse for harassing me about it, humans tend to have better manners and be more apologetic. And I can put it behind me since it happened in France and I'm here in Japan now," she giggled like a school girl, she twisted Sen's hand around, "I think I've got all the glass out of your hand. So let's clean it out and give it the same care as the bite wounds."

Soon enough Sen was examining her now bandaged hand, "You're a miracle nurse," Sen replied, "Thank you," she breathed.

"No problem at all. Now let's go check in on Seita shall we?" Lawrence offered with a smile sweeping her blonde hair behind her ear. Butterflies fluttered in Sen's stomach, Lawrence just had a natural aura of peacefulness that made all the nervousness in Sen flow out, "Just give me one second to switch out of my uniform-it won't do to have someone walking around late at night in the uniform."

Sen nodded and stayed seated examining her bandaged up hand, _I never knew that ghouls could be so gentle. Before Seita I didn't even know they could be small innocent kids. Can they really be monsters?_ She wondered to herself, _but they have to be, after all they do eat people. Seita took a bite out of me without meaning to. Is it safe for me to live with him? Is it safe for him to live around me?_ She tried to picture Lawrence attacking someone or eating them but Sen found it difficult and the best image she could picture made her think of a B-rated horror movie.

"Excuse my intrusion," And elderly voice stated and Sen jumped out of her chair in fright her hair on her head standing on end. Her heart raced in her chest from the surprise as well _how much am I going to have to go through in one night_ she wondered. She turned to see and elderly man had just stepped through the door way dressed as if he had just come in from outside.

"I should be the one saying excuse me. I'm so very sorry to be intruding in your apartment sir," Sen rushed out bowing politely, she glanced up to see the elderly gentleman hanging up his hat on the rack by the door.

"No trouble at all Miss. You are a new face here at Anteiku," he greeted her, "I am Mr. Yoshimura, Anteiku is my café. I bumped into Lawrence in the hall-you are the one who took in young Seita yesterday if I am not mistaken. Yomo told me what he had seen happen." He smiled happily revealing deep smile lines in his kind wrinkled face.

Sen nodded her head, "Yes that would be me," she was quick to reply.

"Yomo told me all about how a stranger saved his life that was very brave and kind of you to open your house like that. It brought me great relief that at least one of the two brother's situations is secure" Mr. Yoshimura explained.

"Does that mean you don't know where Seita's brother is?" Sen asked worriedly.

She watched as Mr. Yoshimura frowned new deep wrinkles settling in on his features, "I am afraid that at this time we don't know Kazuma's whereabouts, but we won't give up until we know for sure what has happened to him", the elderly man added on to comfort Sen who breathed a sigh in relief.

"I didn't know that ghouls looked out for one another, I thought you were all individuals. What a relief-I was really worried what would happen to Seita's brother," Sen admitted gladly.

"You would be right to assume ghouls operate as individuals, for the most part we do. We of the twentieth ward though strive for peace and so we offer our strengths to one another to make up for our weaknesses. We are a bit unique in that manner," Yoshimura informed her, Sen nodded taking the information in.

Something also came to Sen's mind in that instant, "Mr. Yoshimura, I think I should tell you that tomorrow I'm going to go out with Seita to look for his brother. If we find any information we will share it with you right away!" she reported to him sternly, she felt like she was speaking with a teacher at school but in a nice sense. Mr. Yoshimura seemed like a very trustworthy and dependant individual, a grandfatherly figure, not that Sen knew what one of those was like from firsthand experience.

"I'm ready to go!" Lawrence exclaimed opening the door, "Good evening Mr. Yoshimura, I was going to escort Miss Sen back to her apartment," the blonde girl stated happily.

"Have a good night ladies and stay safe," Mr. Yoshimura said as he waved the two of them off. Sen followed Lawrence out of the room and back down the stairs, but rather than exiting through the main entrance they slipped out the back way into the alley.

"The twentieth ward is very peaceful, so I'm not too worried about us running into problems. But Sen you should be careful, even if you have Seita with you walking around at night-I don't want you to accidentally fall prey to someone," Lawrence explained worriedly, "Perhaps you should wear something of Seita's too when you go out alone. That way you'll smell close enough to a ghoul when someone's not paying enough attention. A scarf or a hat may do," the girl offered, Sen watched as a deep frown stretched out across Lawrence's face, "I've lost a lot of friends in the past-I would hate to lose more people I've just met."

Lawrence paused in her steps and took Sen's hands her eyes watering and she looked really troubled, "If you have to go somewhere dangerous please call me so I can be at your side, I'll leave my number with you once we get to your house. Promise?"

Sen flushed bright red at the sudden smothering of parental care form the ghoul she just met, but nodded her head, "I-I promise to call you in an emergency," she stuttered out and watched Lawrence release a sigh of relief squeezing Sen's hands one last time before releasing her grip.

"Are we almost there" Lawrence asked glancing around curiously in the dark.

Sen nodded her head, "Just up the street," and with that hurried her pace up, Lawrence quickening her pace as well. Soon enough the girls were rushing up the stairs and towards the apartment door, "The lock it's busted!" Sen remarked taking a look at the door. Faster than Sen could blink Lawrence shoved her back behind and her rinkaku exploded out. Eight large blue tails with terrifyingly sharp pointed ends aimed themselves at the door.

" _Allez, montre-toi,"_ Lawrence snarled in French, Sen suddenly felt awash in fear at the sudden change in Lawrence. Who went from gentle and seemingly helpless to an avenging angel level of fury and terror in a fraction of a second, "Who wishes to fight the _l'araignée?_ "

"Sen is that you?" Seita's voice called out. Hesitantly Lawrence reached out and opened the door sighing in relief her kagune dissipating as the threat disappeared. Yomo leaned protectively over Seita shielding him with his body, his face still stoically blank but his eyes hardened.

"I didn't have a key," Yomo explained, "I can fix your door," he offered in consolation. Sen's legs gave out and she fell to the floor her heart still racing in her chest from the fear and surprise, she stared at Yomo with eyes as wide as saucers and nodded her head numbly.

"Yep new door, that's fine," _please don't eat me_ she added in her head.

Lawrence turned back seeing Sen collapsed on the ground, "So sorry, did I shove you that hard?" she asked fearing she had hurt the tiny human by shoving her back, "It looks like I still have bit of my younger self in me," she chuckled offering her hand to Sen to pull her up to her feet. Yomo sat back giving Seita room to breathe.

"The meal had helped stabilize him, his cramping had been relieved and his fever though still present has gone down," Yomo reported to Sen, he wouldn't admit it out loud but had taken great interest and liking in caring for the young ghoul.

Sen walked over to Seita and sat down by his side taking his hand, "You're feeling better?" she asked needing to hear it from the source to be certain.

He nodded his head happily a big smile stretching out on his face, "So much better, the food Mr. Yomo brought was a big help."

Sen sighed in relief, "I didn't kill you by accident!" she called out catching him in a tight embrace.

He laughed and hugged her back, "I didn't eat you by accident!" he laughed back.


End file.
